Roland Kiyola KF-10 Digital Piano

Product Overview

On the Kiyola pianos or the KF-10 digital pianos, Roland has put just as much focus into the aesthetics of the instruments as the playing experience; which for those familiar with Roland is saying quite a lot. The cabinetry of these pianos is fully made in Japan, by the largest Japanese wood furniture specialist Karimoku. Karimoku has been in operation since 1940 and puts quality above all else. They retain complete control over the sourcing of raw woods and materials and use many traditional Japanese woodworking techniques. As a result, the cabinets on the Roland KF10 pianos are simply stunning. The KF10 pianos are available in five stellar wood choices to match any space perfectly: Pure Oak, Sheer White, Walnut, Mocha Brown, and Sheer Black. Although the cabinetry speaks for itself, it’s worth noting that the Roland Kiyola series has been awarded one of the most prestigious awards from the Japan Institute for Design Promotion, the G Mark Badge for excellence in both aesthetics and functionality.

On the piano end of things, the KF10 features Roland’s professionally rated PHA-50 action and their SuperNATURAL Piano Modelling Tone Engine with Limitless Polyphony. These are some of Roland’s most sought-after digital pianos features and create a wonderfully authentic piano playing experience for the player.

Another objective with the Kiyola KF-10 piano is to eliminate all unnecessary knobs and buttons to give the aesthetic focus to the piano’s beautiful cabinetry. There are four small buttons for functionality as well as a volume knob and a power button. Now, this is not to say that there isn’t plenty of functionality in these instruments, the functionality is all instead accessible via the piano’s Bluetooth connection and the ‘Roland Piano Partner 2’ app.

The KF10 also includes a sleek bench with premium padding and a 3 pedal system, which are both finished in the same way as the piano cabinet.

In short, one top of being a wonderful digital piano, the Roland Kiyola KF10 will not only look good in any space that it’s placed in, but will actually enhance the aesthetic and furniture caliber in the room.

Action

The Kiyola KF10 models from Roland feature the coveted PHA-50 action, which is the company’s main professionally rated action. It features a hybrid construction of wood and plastic for the actual keys, which not only makes the action feel authentic and well-weighted but increases the level of durability and longevity.

This action is highly sensitive and responsive to the musician’’s intentions and is the ‘go-to’ key touch for many professional players. The PHA-50 has a well-weighted and graded touch which is specifically designed to replicate that of an acoustic piano. As far as overall weight goes, this action strikes a nice balance of being not too heavy or too light will allow players to not get too tired during long playing sessions, but still gives them tons of control over each key.

Being a professionally rated action, the PHA-50 has tri-sensor detection for optimal accuracy as well as textured key surfaces to give the musician both some grip and authenticity – especially during faster passages.

Sound Engine

When it comes to high-end tone engines inside of digital pianos, it’s tough to dispute that Sound Modelling is the best approach. Even manufacturers who focus on sound sampling instead of sound modelling will do additive modelling in their best pianos. Roland has in many ways been a pioneer in the world of sound modelling, and the Kiyola KF10 model features their SuperNATURAL Piano Modelling interface.

This tone engine produces a highly detailed and realistic tone for the musician to work with, as well as plenty of dynamic control and expression. The SuperNATURAL Piano Modeling computer can be found in a number of different Roland digital pianos and is very well received by players of all levels.

This interface also makes the Kiyola KF-10 piano compatible with not only Roland’s Piano Partner 2 but also the Roland Piano Designer App, which allows the player to adjust specifics of the piano’s tone and sound/touch responsiveness for a more personalized playing experience

Another important feature to draw attention to would be the amount of polyphony in the KF10 pianos. On the piano sounds, there is limitless polyphony, and on the other piano sounds, there is a polyphony level of 384. This is of course a remarkable amount of polyphony to have in a digital piano and allows the tone of the piano to have a lot more detail and subtlety.

The KF10 also packs an impressive 60W of speaker power, which is ample – especially for an instrument of its footprint

Connectivity

In the connectivity department, the Roland Kiyola KF-10 keeps things simple, but still gives the player everything they’ll need. For starters, it has both Bluetooth MIDI and Bluetooth Audio on-board, which will allow the KF10 to connect to popular learning and Roland specific apps, but will also allow you to stream music wirelessly through the piano’s speakers. Most of the piano’s connection capabilities can be accessed through this Bluetooth feature, which will keep the look of your KF10 as clean as it was intended to be

If you’re however looking to transfer larger amounts of data quickly between the piano and a computer, or if Bluetooth isn’t your thing, then the KF10 also has two USB ports (a USBA and a USB B) to make that happen. Having both types of USB ports and Bluetooth will cover all of what most people will require as far as connectivity options in a digital piano

Notable Features

Without hesitation, the most notable feature of the Roland Kiyola KF-10 is its cabinet design. There is literally no other digital piano on the market today that even strives for what Roland’s achieved with this model, and the result is truly impressive. This piano comes from a partnership between Roland and Japan’s leading wood furniture specialist: Karimoku. The piano’s cabinet is truly made-in-Japan to extremely strict tolerances and has been awarded the ‘Good Design Award’ from Japan’s Institute of Design Promotion

Conclusions

The Roland Kiyola KF-10 digital pianos are as beautiful as they are musically satisfying. The Kiyola pianos are perfect for anyone looking for a digital piano with a small footprint, that’s going to be as much a piece of furniture as it will be a musical instrument.

Roland KF-10 Owner’s Manual

• [English] KF-10 Owner’s Manual